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| With all the grim earnings
news from corporations and banks lately, not to mention the continuing credit squeeze and widespread
talk of recession, it would seem that most small companies, too, would be having a hard time finding
financing. But that was not the case at a recent conference in Southern California, where 1,000
investment professionals came from all parts of the United States to hear and talk to 330 aspiring
companies -- 50 of them from China. |
| (Source: The New York Times (free reg. req'd),
2008-04-17) |
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| Before you can sell your
business, merge with or acquire another company, or take on investors, you need to know how much
your business is worth. Think you already know that magic number? Fewer than 25 percent of small
business owners actually do, say experts. |
| (Source: BusinessWeek, 2008-04-16) |
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| A majority of small and
medium-sized businesses say the U.S. economy is in worse shape than five years ago and nearly half
expect a recession in the next year, according to a survey. The National Small Business
Association's 2008 NSBA Survey of Small and Mid-Sized Business found that 71 percent of respondents
said the economy is worse than five years ago -- up from 43 percent in 2007. |
| (Source: Reuters, 2008-04-16) |
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| Lenders have been discouraged
by the SBA's high fees, staffing problems, and lowered loan guarantee levels, said Cynthia
Blankenship, chairman of Independent Community Bankers of America, during a hearing held by the U.S.
Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship. As a result, small-business owners who have
already tapped out their home equity lines are risking their business finances on high-interest
credit cards, which are also getting harder to come by. |
| (Source: CFO.com, 2008-04-18) |
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| Global mergers and
acquisitions surpassed $1.0 trillion, marking a 27 percent decline from the same period last year,
according to research firm Dealogic. Deal activity this year has been overshadowed by concerns of a
U.S. recession, tight credit markets and stock market weakness. |
| (Source: Reuters, 2008-04-17) |
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| A record number of companies
canceled initial public offerings in the first quarter as stock markets fell and concerns about a
recession sapped demand for new shares, a survey by Ernst & Young LLP said. As many as 83 companies
withdrew IPOs while a further 24 delayed share sales, the accounting firm said in a report. |
| (Source: Bloomberg, 2008-04-15) |
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| The H-1B cap hits small
businesses hard because they submit fewer applications than large companies and because individual
employees are more important to the company's success. "I can't grow my business because I can't
take on more projects," says Howard Kogan, CEO of Molecular, a small digital marketing and Web
development company in Boston. "I don't have the staffing for it." |
| (Source: Fortune, 2008-04-17) |
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| The number of venture capital
funds being raised nationwide fell to its lowest levels in at least two years, but the amount of
money collected has remained unchanged. There were 57 firms that raised funds in the first quarter
of 2008, according to Thomson Financial and the National Venture Capital Association, collecting
$6.3 billion. |
| (Source: Nashville Business Journal,
2008-04-16) |
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| Once predicated on the concept
that management was better able outside the glare of the public markets and quarterly earnings
pressures to take struggling companies, remedy their problems and turn them out again, the business
of leveraged buyouts has recently been turned on its ear. The culprit: mark-to-market accounting,
which is now forcing private equity firms to struggle with many of the same pressures that beset
public companies. |
| (Source: The Wall Street Journal's Deal Journal,
2008-04-21) |
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| Cash payments, stock options
and grants to encourage employees to stay after a takeover are fairly standard in Silicon Valley,
venture capitalists and industry analysts say. These incentive plans, they add, can extend deep into
the engineering ranks, unlike the situation in most other industries where retention packages, or
"golden handcuffs," are typically offered to a handful of top executives. |
| (Source: The New York Times (free reg. req'd),
2008-04-17) |
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| Joseph
DeGroff |
Joseph DeGroff was recently selected
to serve as the chair-elect of the Indiana Sports Corporation. Joe was also re-elected as a member of the
executive committee.
The mission of the Indiana Sports Corporation is to promote Indiana as an attractive place to
live, work and visit through sports and sporting events that bring national and international
attention to the area.
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| Melanie
Harris |
Carly
Everett |
Indiana courts continue to allow employers to protect goodwill, trade secrets and other valuable
business interests by using restrictive covenants, including noncompetition and nonsolicitation
agreements. The Indiana Supreme Court recently provided valuable guidance for employers utilizing
restrictive covenants to protect their businesses. Also, the Indiana Supreme Court addressed for the
very first time the use of "no defense" provisions in restrictive covenant agreements as a way to
limit an employee's ability to challenge the enforceability of the restrictive covenants.
Read the entire article about restrictive
covenants.
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